murph the surf - epic kirra barrell 1979
Yes i was there that day,and i remember that tube very well...and the sequence in Tracks. In fact, there was a bit of debate about the sequence in tracks - some people were pretty sure it was Ross Phillips - as he was getting some of the best tubes that day. But i am almost certain it was Mark 'Murf the Surf' Bercove from WA. Me, Murf and Phil 'Sharky' Horley (all three of us from West Oz)had been living on the Gold Coast for a couple of seasons after a long stint at Cactus. Sharky had been nailed by a big white pointer two years previous (hence the new nickname) and we were keen to get out of South Oz waters for awhile - so we headed to the Goldy for some warm water comfort where we settled in for awhile, i lasted a good few years, but that's another story.... Anyways, Murf took to them Kirra barrels straight away and it wasn't long before he was getting as deep as MP, Ray Manicaros, Rabbit, Tommy Peterson, Wayne Deane, Kerry Gill, Jay Glover, Bruce Lee and other locals. That was classic Kirra swell, probably hasn't or doesn't get any better... Murf is still keen as ever in the surf. He's a very accomplished martial artist these days and has been back living at Cactus for the past 20 years or so where he dominates the bowl and the barrel at his beloved Caves. If you are ever there visiting - a word of advice - don't drop in on him! But he'd be stoked if you reminded him of them Kirra sessions - that barrel in particular. But i bet Ross Phillips still claims it too, ha! Nice to see Kirra coming back to life - though it looks like it still needs some more groyne extension. May them swells keep rolling. Good luck to all - wayne murphy
Ha! Murph! Dont know the Kirra stories or even that he was originally from WA. But I know him from Cactus/Penong and seen him doing his martial arts thing on the rocks there and also getting well tubed in the bowl.
All round nice guy I found if you approach him the same way. Not always that way over there. Good story/thread Victor.
that was ross phillips in that pit. big brown kirra drainer, be nice to see those pics again kirra at its best. i think it was shot in 1978 ?
Murph sure surfs Caves well. Probably the best all round surfer I've seen out there. But fuck he is an erratic character. I saw him working on his car at the Penong roadhouse and struck up a conversation with him. He was cool.
Then another time I saw him and he was going crazy in the surf trying to start fights with anyone unfortunate enough to go near him!
I heard he nearly killed some kiwi guy who had bought land in the area and was trying to claim local status. Word was Murph had him upside down by the feet, head down in the water in the shallows in front of Caves. After a while Moose went down there and suggested to Murph that he might kill the guy if he went too much longer. Don't think the kiwi guy stayed around after that!
If I see Murph I just stay away from him.
o.k. this is going back to 1979......one of the best kirra tube sequences ever. W.A. expat murph in a 8 ft kirra pit. was a 2 page sequence about 20 shots in tracks in black and white taken by hoole/mcoy - can anyone recall it . anyone have that tracks ? if you have scan it and post it up ,dick or jack if youre reading this dig into your archives...this barrell needs to be seen by surfers of today to show the real kirra....wayne murphy of tontta mag, bruce lee or deany bet u remember it? hope youre still surfing murph.